Shellfish are delicacies that are much enjoyed by almost all gourmets. Their meat is unique, and enjoyable, no matter how it is served. Among the most tasty are lobsters, crabs, and other similar crustaceans, and even crab legs from larger species. There are innumerable species, with subtle variations in texture and flavor, but almost all are within a hard shell casing. Actually, this varies from a very soft shell, at the time of shedding, to, in the matter of hours, a paper shell, and then, for several months, a very hard shell, which is, for the most part, its normal condition.
In any case, the meat must be taken out of the shell to be enjoyed, and this is the problem. To get the meat out, the crab must be killed--usually by cooking--so that the meat can be extracted. This can be, and is done commercially, but the extracted meat must be canned or stored for later use, which loses some of the freshness, if not the flavor. On the other hand, fresh shellfish, promptly and properly cooked, is at its best served immediately. However, it then becomes the chore of the eater to take the fresh meat out of the shell.
This is not easy. It is one of the unique dining experiences where you must use your fingers, and other unique tools. Restaurants that specialize in seafood of this kind supply everything from nutcrackers to wooden boards and mallets to break the shells, and forks and picks to draw the meat out of the shells. This is well worth the effort, but the breaking of the shells often damages the meat, which is, naturally, in tangible chunks, but of a delicate texture. If the meat is broken up, or shredded, by the breaking of the shells, it can be more difficult to extract or pick up the minute, succulent shreds of meat.
This is messy, but is still effective, where the shells can be fractured by a nut cracker or mallet, and opened. However, some of the time, particularly with crab legs, the shells are sill flexible and will not open with any tool on the table. What is needed is a device that can quickly, cleanly, and neatly open the shell of any part of a shellfish to enjoy its meat at its best with a minimum of effort and mess.
What is needed is a long, sharp, pointed tool, like the tine of a fork, to insert at one end of a leg or claw with some means for cutting or fracturing the shell to expose the meat. Scissors, with a long thin sharp blade--3lthough awkward at the table and hard to clean--would do for long, thin crab legs, but would not be able to cut through hardened lobster or crab claws.
The object of his invention is to provide a simple, but unique tool that can be inserted into the end of a crab leg to cut and open either a soft or a hard shell, quickly and simply, and expose all the meat to be picked up in solid pieces by finger or fork with no wasted shreds--or bits of the fractured shell to avoid.